Method and system for multicasting targeted advertising data

ABSTRACT

A computer readable medium is disclosed, containing a computer program for multicasting targeted advertising data to end user devices, the computer program comprising instructions to track at a internet protocol server, universal resource indicators comprising domain name world wide web addresses for web sites visited by the end user devices; instructions to parse at the server, each of the universal resource indicators domain name world wide web addresses visited by the end user devices into one of a noun, an adjective and a verb; and instructions to multicast from the server, targeted advertising data selected to the subgroup of the end user devices from a regional internet protocol television server based on the parsing. A system is also disclosed for multicasting targeted advertising data to end user devices.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The patent application is a continuation of and claims priority fromU.S. patent Ser. No. 11/699,752 filed on Jan. 30, 2007 now U.S. Pat. No.8,213,426 Entitled A Method and System for Multicasting TargetedAdvertising Data by Geoffrey R. Zampiello which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to a system and method for multicastingtargeted advertising to a group of end user devices.

BACKGROUND

Advertisers can potentially save advertising dollars by selecting whowill receive their advertisements rather than indiscriminatelybroadcasting their advertisements to a general population of recipients.Thus, only those individuals selected by an advertiser receive thetargeted advertisement in hope that the targeted recipients will be moreresponsive on a per capita basis than a general broadcast population.Advertisement distributors and providers that enable such an advertisingmodel (e.g. Internet portals, television providers, access networkproviders) can correspondingly increase their revenue per advertisementimpression by providing targeted advertising options for advertisers.

Targeted advertisements have historically been sent to targetedrecipients so that advertisers reach only those advertising recipientswho are deemed by the advertiser as most likely to be responsive totheir advertisements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of an IPTV system for targetedadvertising;

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative embodiment of an internet protocoltelevision (IPTV) system for multicasting targeted advertising data tosubgroups of end user client devices;

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a flow chart of functionsperformed in another illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a flow chart of functionsperformed in another illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a flow chart of functionsperformed in another illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 6 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a flow chart of functionsperformed in another illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 7 depicts a data structure for storing data in another illustrativeembodiment; and

FIG. 8 is another illustrative embodiment of a machine for performingfunctions disclosed; and

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In an illustrative embodiment a method is disclosed for multicastingtargeted advertising data to end user devices, the method includingcorrelating at a regional internet protocol television (IPTV) server,multicast queue data with web data from web sites visited by each of aplurality of end user devices associated with the regional IPTV server;selecting a subgroup of end user devices from the plurality of end userdevices to receive targeted advertising data correlating with a memberof the multicast queue data; and multicasting targeted advertising dataassociated with the member of the multicast queue data to the subgroupof end user devices from the regional IPTV server.

In another illustrative embodiment, the web data and multicast queuedata further comprise data selected from the group consisting of image,text, audio and video data, wherein the correlating further comprisescomparing the web data to each member of the multicast queue data, theselecting further including placing end user devices in a subgroupassociated with a member of the multicast queue based on thecorrelating.

In another illustrative embodiment the member is data indicatingadvertising data in an advertising category selected from the groupconsisting of image, text, video and audio data.

In another illustrative embodiment the correlating further comprisescomparing advertising categories for the web data and the multicastqueue data to a advertising categories for an end user profile for eachof the end user devices, wherein the end user profile comprises dataselected from the group consisting of image, text, audio and video data.

In another illustrative embodiment the method further includes receivingthe multicast queue data at the regional advertising server from a superregional IPTV server, wherein the multicast queue data further includesimage, video, audio and text data indicating regional advertising dataassociated with the web data for the regional IPTV server. In anotherillustrative embodiment the method further includes receiving at theregional IPTV server end user selection data indicating a selection oftargeted advertising data multicast to the end user device; accessingcontact data associated with the end user selection data; and sending amessage associated with the targeted advertising data to an end useraddress in the contact data.

In another illustrative embodiment the end user address furthercomprises data indicative of an end user address selected from the groupconsisting of an internet protocol address and a physical address, andwherein the message further comprises data selected from the groupconsisting of an email, phone call, text message and an advertisementmailed to the physical address. In another illustrative embodiment themulticast queue data further comprises regional and demographic datasent to the regional IPTV server associated with the plurality of endusers.

In another illustrative embodiment a system is disclosed formulticasting targeted advertising data to end user devices. In anotherillustrative embodiment the system further includes a regional IPTVserver containing a processor in data communication with a computerreadable medium; and a computer program comprising instructions embeddedin the computer readable medium, the computer program further comprisinginstructions to correlate at the regional internet protocol television(IPTV) server, multicast queue data with web data from web sites,instructions to select a subgroup of end user devices from the pluralityof end user devices to receive targeted advertising data correlatingwith a member of the multicast queue data and instructions to multicasttargeted advertising data associated with the member of the multicastqueue data to the subgroup of end user devices from the regional IPTVserver.

In another illustrative embodiment of the system, in the computerprogram, the web data visited by each of a plurality of end user devicesassociated with the regional IPTV server and multicast queue datafurther comprise data selected from the group consisting of image, text,audio and video data, wherein the instructions to correlate furthercomprise instructions to compare the web data to each member of themulticast queue data, wherein the instructions to select furthercomprise instructions to place end user devices in a subgroup associatedwith a member of the multicast queue based on the correlating.

In another illustrative embodiment the member includes data indicatingadvertising data in an advertising category selected from the groupconsisting of image, text, video and audio data.

In another illustrative embodiment of the system, in the computerprogram, the instructions to correlate further comprise instructions tocompare the web data and the multicast queue data to a user profile foreach of the end user devices. In another illustrative embodiment of thesystem the user profile comprises data selected from the groupconsisting of image, text, audio and video data.

In another illustrative embodiment of the system the computer programfurther comprises instructions to receive the multicast queue data atthe regional advertising server from a super regional IPTV server,wherein the multicast queue data comprises image, video, audio and textdata indicating regional advertising data associated with the regionalIPTV server.

In another illustrative embodiment of the system computer programfurther comprises instructions to receive at the regional IPTV serverend user selection data indicating a selection of targeted advertisingdata multicast to the end user device, instructions to access contactdata associated with the end user selection data and instructions tosend a message associated with the targeted advertising data to an enduser address in the contact data.

In another illustrative embodiment of the system, the end user addressfurther comprises data indicative of an end user address selected fromthe group consisting of an internet protocol address and a physicaladdress, and the message further comprises data selected from the groupconsisting of an email, phone call, text message and an advertisementmailed to the physical address. In another illustrative embodiment ofthe system, the multicast queue data further comprises regional locationdata and demographic data associated with the plurality of end users.

In another illustrative embodiment a computer readable medium isdisclosed containing an embedded computer program of instructionsexecutable by a processor at a regional IPTV server, the computerprogram useful for multicasting targeted advertising data to end userdevices from the regional IPTV server, the computer program comprisinginstructions to correlate at the regional internet protocol television(IPTV) server, multicast queue data with web data from web sites visitedby each of a plurality of end user devices associated with the regionalIPTV server, instructions to select a subgroup of end user devices fromthe plurality of end user devices to receive targeted advertising datacorrelating with a member of the multicast queue data and instructionsto multicast targeted advertising data associated with the member of themulticast queue data to the subgroup of end user devices from theregional IPTV server.

In another illustrative embodiment of the medium, the computer program,the web data and multicast queue data further comprise data selectedfrom the group consisting of image, text, audio and video data, whereinthe instructions to correlate further comprise instructions to comparethe web data to each member of the multicast queue data, theinstructions to select further comprising instructions to place end userdevices in a subgroup associated with a member of the multicast queuedata based on the correlating.

In another illustrative embodiment of a method is disclosed forreceiving multicast targeted advertising data at an end user device, themethod comprising receiving from an IPTV regional server multicasttargeted advertising data correlating with a member of a multicast queuedata and web data from web sites visited by the end user device, whereinthe end user device is a member of a subgroup of end user devicescorrelating with the member of multicast queue data.

In another illustrative embodiment a system is disclosed for receivingmulticast targeted advertising data at an end user device, the systemcomprising a processor in data communication with a computer readablemedium; and a computer program embedded in the computer readable mediumcontaining instructions executable by the processor, the computerprogram comprising instructions to receive from an IPTV regional servermulticast targeted advertising data correlating with a member ofmulticast queue data and correlating with web data from web sitesvisited by the end user device, wherein the end user device is a memberof a subgroup of end user devices correlating with the member ofmulticast queue data and the web data.

In another illustrative embodiment, a data structure embedded in acomputer readable medium is disclosed, the data structure comprising afirst field for containing data indicating web data selected from thegroup consisting of video, audio, text and image data associated with aweb site visited by an end user device in an internet protocoltelevision (IPTV) system and a second field containing data indicatingmulticast queue data selected from the group consisting of video, image,text and audio data for correlating with the web data to select targetedadvertising data for multicast to a selected subgroup of a plurality ofend user devices associated with a regional IPTV server.

In another illustrative embodiment of the data structure furthercomprises a third field for containing data indicating a contact addressfor the end user device for sending a message to the end user device atthe address, the address further comprising data selected from the groupconsisting of an internet protocol address and a physical address.

In an illustrative embodiment a method and system are disclosed formulticasting multiple advertisements to selected end user device subgroups during a single timeslot and delivering specific advertising datato customer viewing the end user devices based on browsing habits anddemographic data for the end users. In an illustrative embodiment asystem for recording websites visited by a particular end user devicefor the purpose of forwarding specific advertisements to that subscriberbased on corollary data. Specifically, in an illustrative embodiment thesystem calls for enhancements on a domain name server (DNS) (or asimilar type of system that has access to subscriber data) which willkeep track of uniform resource indicators (URIs) that a subscribervisits, forward the URIs to a system which keeps track of URIs that thesubscriber has visited. The system contains a set of corollary orrelated data set of related advertisements that are associated with theset of URIs that the person has visited.

Traditional television (TV) advertisement is broadcast based, in whichevery broadcast audience member receives the same TV advertisement atthe same time. This traditional kind of TV advertisement model was builtupon the broadcast based cable, satellite or over-air TV networks.Broadcast based TV advertisement may not be cost effective for alladvertisers from business perspective. The purpose of advertisement isto pass information to potential customers. Broadcast basedadvertisement fits large business well; such as national retailerchains, drink companies, wireless phone companies, etc. because almostevery audience member is their potential customer. However, for most ofthe small and medium size businesses, only a small part of the audiencesare potential customers.

For example, a diaper advertisement is not applicable to all audiencemembers because a family will probably not buy diapers if there are nobabies in the family. A targeted advertising solution is to only send aparticular advertisement (diaper advertisement) to a particular targetedaudience group (families with babies) rather than an indiscriminatebroadcast to every member of an audience. In other words, audiencemembers will only be sent the advertisement in which he/she isinterested or related. In an illustrative embodiment a TV serviceprovider can send multiple advertisements at the same time period andcharge less for each advertisement than for a broadcast advertisement,but maintaining the effectiveness within the target group of viewers.For example, during a prime 30 minute time advertising slot, 8advertisements can be sent out to all the audiences with traditionalbroadcast based TV network advertising; but in an illustrativeembodiment, 80 or more advertisements can be sent out to 10 differentaudience groups over a multicast IPTV network. If IPTV service providercharges 50% of the advertisement price of traditional broadcastadvertising TV, IPTV service provide will still have advertising revenueseveral times higher than that of traditional broadcast TV advertising.In an illustrative embodiment a multicast based IPTV system supportspersonalized advertisement with very high network bandwidth utilization.An illustrative embodiment implements the targeted advertisement systemand method integrate this targeted advertising feature with voice, videoand data services in an IPTV network offering IPTV, VoIP and dataservices.

In an illustrative embodiment a particular advertisement is sent to aparticular selected audience sub group of end user devices. In otherwords, any audience member need only watch the advertisements in whichhe/she is interested or to which he/she are correlatively related.

For example, if a person has visited www.weather.com andwww.accuweather.com, the database may associate the browsing habit withan individual whom has an interest in weather, so the system and methodwould send an advertisement back to the set top box of the subscriberdisplaying an advertisement for weather. The illustrative embodiment canalso insert advertising data in local advertising spots in a video datastream during commercials in a manner such that the person who likesweather web sites can be sent an advertisement for weather history bookswhen the local commercial insertion spot is available on the nightlynews. Additionally, this system compensates for nomadic usage or usagebased on DHCP assignments of the CPE, so if the subscribers IP addresschanges, the illustrative embodiment advertising system and method stillfunction appropriately. Thus in an illustrative embodiment, a method andsystem are provided for dynamically tracking, selecting and forwardingIP accounting records for mobile end user devices 112.

An illustrative embodiment solves the problem of advertisers wastingdollars in specific markets where there is no demonstrated interest intheir advertising offering. The illustrative embodiment solves thatproblem by gathering subscriber data from the IPTV network. Theillustrative embodiment takes data from what the user enters into theirbrowser and correlates their browsing habits to an interest. Thereforean IPTV service provider can sell targeted advertising data to a captivemarket. Furthermore, the system allows multiple advertisements to run ina single commercial timeslot, selecting which commercials are multicastto which specific customer's end user device, for example, a mobile cellphone, or household set top box.

IPTV, Voice over IP and internet providers display advertising databased on specifically on what an end user searches on the World WideWeb, for example a service provider company may display an advertisementfor an apple farm if an end user searches for the string “how long isthe apple growing season”. The illustrative embodiment system and methodcaptures information on the users browsing habits at the DNS server orprobe that is local to the user. Note that information can also becaptured using other means such as in line taps and probe device so oneneed not be limited to the use of a DNS server to accomplish the URIcapturing. Therefore, we will refer to the URI capturing mechanism asthe URI capture server. Furthermore the illustrative system and methoddynamically tracks the URIs an end user has visited even if the IPaddress of the user changes. The illustrative embodiment stores the URIstrings that an end user has visited for the purpose of correlating theusers browsing habits to an advertisement that is appropriate for thatend user. Specifically, the system looks for adjectives, Nouns and Verbsin the URI. Adjectives are weighted lower than nouns and verbs. Pronounsare ignored. Adverbs are ignored. Once the system has parsed and ratedthe URIs it then searches for relative advertisements to display to theuser. The system and method can display advertisements to the user ontheir set top box, telephone, or cell phone. Advertisers can be betterassured that they are reaching a target market of end users that areinterested in what they have to sell.

In an illustrative embodiment a system is disclosed which correlatesbrowsing habits to user specific advertisements. The system keeps trackof a users browsing habits as well as it correlates information relatingto any demographic information on the user such as age, sex martialstatus, location, and income. An illustrative embodiment combines realtime end user browsing information as well as demographic user data tospecifically tailor advertisements to that end user at the end userdevice such as a set top box, telephone or cell phone of the user. Anywebsite URI that the user enters into a browser is recorded by the URIserver of the user and sent to the advertisement server for correlationto other known demographic data of that end user for the purpose ofmulticasting targeted advertisements to that end user interface. Anillustrative embodiment can be used in targeted television advertisementas commercials can be sent on a specific basis to selected customers atend user devices. For example, when the local advertising data insertionspot is inserted on the nightly news an IPTV service provider can selland send not just one advertising spot for the time, but several. Forinstance an IPTV service provider can multicast any number ofcommercials at the same time. For this purpose we will say 10commercials at the same time. Subscribers will join the commercialmulticast that is most appropriate to their interests identified bytheir browsing habits and demographics.

Also contained in the system is a rating system that provides for eachcommercial to be rated with a specific advertising data tag. Theadvertising data tag is a description of the commercial. An example ofthis is a commercial for computers would be tagged as technology.

The tag may also include but is not limited to image, video, text andaudio data associated with the advertisement which can be used forcorrelating advertising categories for the tagged advertising data withadvertising categories for multicast queue data and end user profiledata. The multicast queue data, web data interrogated from web sitesvisited by end users, and user profiles for end user devices associatedwith a regional IPTV server contain image, video, text and audio datafor correlation and selection of sub groups of end users to receivemulticast targeted advertising data in advertising categories in whichthe sub groups of end users are interested. The multicast queue data,web data interrogated from web sites visited by end users, and userprofiles for end user devices associated with a regional IPTV servercontain regional image, video, text and audio data for correlation andselection of sub groups of end users to receive regional multicasttargeted advertising data. Commercially available image, video, text andaudio data recognition and correlation systems are used to correlate andcompare image, video, text and audio data in the multicast queue data,web data interrogated from web sites visited by end users, and userprofiles to select subgroups to receive multicast targeted advertisingdata in correlated advertising categories.

The tag can also contain image, text, audio or video data associatedwith the advertising data. The word technology might be associated withcomputer, wireless LAN, television, and stereo. Each end user on theIPTV system can have a rating in advertising categories which is derivedfrom the nouns and verbs and advertising data of the URIs they havebrowsed, data is then combined with the demographic data for thecustomer. When it is time for the local advertising insertion during aprogram, the illustrative system and method will send out multiplestreams of advertising data which are addressable to the specific ratingof the customer. Sports fans having an interest in an advertisingcategory “sports” will receive advertising data in the “sport” category,i.e., sports commercials, as technology fans will receive technologycommercials.

Cell phone users can be directed to promotional content which runs anadvertisement before the subscriber can view the promotional content.This advertising data can be specific to the user as well, since we willknow about the users viewing habits from their web browsing. Thecorollary and collection system is in itself novel because it keepstrack of subscriber browsing habits and then the system looks for Nouns,and Verbs in the URIs and advertising data it has received from the URIcapture server and the web site associated with the URI. Adjectives areincluded as well however, they are weighted a little lower then nounsand verbs. Adverbs are ignored. For example, Nouns=7, verbs=6,adjectives=4 and adverbs=0 on a scale of 10 for weighting purposes. Oneother unique and novel aspect is this system can retire or augment therating for a customer after a certain specified time. For example acustomer who is rated to receive sports commercials since they had beensurfing sports sites can begin to receive other types of commercialswhen they receive a new rating from surfing real estate sites.

A particular illustrative embodiment enables IPTV, VoIP and/or Internetdata service providers (SPs) to collect, correlate and store dataaccording to the usage habits of a subscriber. The data is alsocorrelated to match an appropriate advertisement, which can be based ondemographic factors such as age, sex, and income. For example, ahousehold that surfs a lot of sites containing the noun “beach” in thename can be displayed specific advertisements for beaches in their areathat may be advertising, or for higher income subscribers as identifiedby the database-beach destination resorts such as Aruba or Bermuda. AnIPTV service provider can now sell advertisement spots for a highervalue per timeslot or multiple advertisements per timeslot since thesystem will have the capability of streaming multiple advertisementssimultaneously.

A subscriber will only receive the advertising data that is specific tothem as a member of a particular multicast sub group of end users. TheIPTV/VoIP/Internet Service Provider (SP) is in position as the accessprovider to collect data regarding end user usage habits and interestsin particular advertising categories for the subscribers and thenassociate those habits with specific targeted advertisements inparticular advertising categories. The IPTV/VoIP/Internet SP is able tocharge a premium for those advertisements since they are going to adirect market of individuals who have a demonstrated interest (viacollection of their usage habits) in that material that the would-beadvertiser is marketing. Usage habits also include monitoring telephonenumbers called, text messaging, emails and electronic purchases over theinternet. The monitored data is anonymous as to the identity of the enduser and not used by the service provider for targeted advertisingunless an end user opts-in and selects to participate.

Turning now to FIG. 1 in an illustrative embodiment an internet protocoltelevision (IPTV)/VoIP/Internet service provider (“IPTV”) network 100 isutilized to deliver video, audio, text and image data streams to an enduser household 102 from an IPTV system 100. As shown in FIG. 1 household102 utilizes devices that interact with the IPTV system which includesvoice over internet protocol (VoIP) and internet data services. Thesedevices include a VoIP telephone 104, IPTV displays 106 and internetdata devices such as personal computers 108. In an illustrativeembodiment, each of these devices connects to the IPTV/VoIP/Internetdata services system (hereinafter collective referred to as the “IPTVsystem”) through a very high bit rate digital service line residentialgateway (VDSL RG) 110.

In an illustrative embodiment, the IPTV network hierarchicallydistributes video, audio, text and image data streams from a video headend to central offices to gateways such as regional gateway 110 to enduser devices such as STB 111 or mobile devices 112. Other gateways anddigital data delivery may be used other than the IPTV system shown inthe illustrative embodiment. Each super head end (SHO/super regionalserver), video head end (VHO/regional server), central office (CO/localserver), gateway or residential gateway (RG) and end user device (forexample a set top box with remote control) includes computer readablemedium (memory) 130, processor 132, and a database 134. An illustrativeembodiment is applicable to any server in an hierarchical network or setof interconnected server, whether such servers are designated as superregional, regional, local or another designation. The residentialgateway (RG) is connected at the residence 102 through fiber to the node(FTTN) connections 112. These FTTN connections split the device signalsover three separate lines. These three separate lines comprise businesstelevision (BTV) 126, cell phones, VoIP, IPTV services and internet dataservices 122, and VoIP, IPTV services and internet data services 124.Data over gigabyte Ethernet connection 118 carrying VoIP, IPTV andinternet services over lines 122 and 124 connect to a router 125 at acentral office (CO) 114 server in the IPTV network. The router 125connects to a 10 gigabyte Ethernet connection 120.

A super head end IPTV server (SHO) 90 formulates regional multicastqueue data and downloads a separate and unique regional multicast queuedata to each regional VHO in the IPTV network. The 10 gigabyte Ethernetconnection 120 carries VoIP 128, video on demand (VoD) and ICC 130, andHSI data 132 to router 116. Router 116 connects to a regional server,video head end (VHO) 134 which is part of the IPTV system. There may besub-regional servers such as the central office server (CO) between theregional server (VHO) and the end user device (STB). The VDSL RG 110receives advertising data, i.e., commercials that are rated for theparticular household 102 of end users. Web sites that the customer athousehold 102 browses are captured in a database 138 interrogated andreviewed and then sent to a rating database 140. An illustrativeembodiment interrogates the web sites represent by URIs that the enduser has visited. The interrogation visits the web sites and looks at,retrieves, stores and evaluates image, video, text and audio data forthe web site. The web sites are characterized as to advertisingcategories.

The rating database 140 looks at the web data determines whatcommercials are best suited for the customer based on the customer'srating in advertising categories in an end user profile. In anillustrative embodiment, the system and method correlate the web data,user profiles data and multicast advertising queue data members toassign subgroups of end user devices. The multicast advertising queuedata members are used to locate regional advertising data from anadvertising server at the regional IPTV server, i.e., VHO.

The databases 138 and 140 are accessible over the internet by or locatedat the VHO 134 or an end user device such as a set top box (STB) 111 athousehold 102. When a user at end user device household 102 visits a website the universal resource indicator (URI) is captured and stored inthe URI capture server 138. The rating database determines this customershould receive a particular advertising data in a particular advertisingcategory based on the rating database by analyzing the end user(“viewer”) profile of the end user and the content of the URI. Thecontent of the URI string is parsed by a natural language processor toselect nouns and verbs appearing in the URI title. The nouns and verbsappearing in the URI title are weighted based on the user profile andbased on the part of speech upon they are based and used to generatekeywords for selection of an advertisement for presentation to the userat household 102 based on their profile rating and a matching to anadvertising data.

For example, if an end user goes to www.soccer.com, www.worldcup.com,and www.aruba.com the rating database 140 may determine this end usershould receive sports company advertisements as well vacationcommercials for the next hour or so. The RG 110 receives multicastadvertising data or commercials that are rated for that particularhousehold based on the user profile and content of the web sites thatthe user has visited. The rating database and the URI capture server areutilized to investigate the URI web sites and look for image data, videodata, text data and audio data related to a particular set of keywordsassociated with the URI that has previously been parsed to developkeywords. The VHO 134 streams multicast data streams of multiplecommercials on each time slot directed at those users whom are a goodfit for the classification of the advertisement based on their viewerprofile and viewing history.

As shown in FIG. 1, 802.1p is an IEEE standard for providing quality ofservice (QoS) in 802-based networks. 802.1p uses three bits to allowswitching to reorder packets based on priority level. It also definesthe Generic Attributes Registration Protocol (GARP) and the GARP VIANRegistration Protocol (GVRP). GARP lets client stations requestmembership in a multicast domain, and GVRP lets them register into aVLAN. 802.1p is an IEEE extension of 801.10. It is the specification forthe use of MAC-layer bridges in filtering and expediting multicasttraffic. Prioritization of traffic is accomplished through the additionof a 3-bit, priority value in the frame header. Eighttopology-independent priority values (0-7) are specified, with all eightvalues mapping directly into 802.4 and 802.6. Switches that support8021P and 802.1Q provide a framework for bandwidth prioritization.Essentially what all these words mean is that you can assign a priorityto the type of traffic with IEEE 802.1p class-of-service (CoS) valuesand these allow network devices along the way to recognize and deliverhigh-priority traffic in a predictable manner. When congestion occurs,QoS drops low-priority traffic to allow delivery of high-prioritytraffic.

As shown in FIG. 1, differentiated services is a set of technologiesproposed by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) which would allowInternet and other IP-based network service providers to offerdifferentiated levels of service to individual customers and theirinformation streams. On the basis of a DiffServe CodePoint (DSCP) markerin the header of each IP (Internet Protocol) packet, the network routerswould apply different Per-Hop Behaviors (PHBs). In other words, for anadditional charge, DiffServe would allow service providers to provide acertain user with a preferential Grade of Service (GoS) for all packettraffic with appropriate indicators in the packet headers. Thepreferential GoS, which is only attempted and not guaranteed, wouldinclude a lower level of packet latency (delay), as those packets wouldadvance to the head of a packet queue in a buffer should the networksuffer congestion. RSVP (Resource ReserVation Protocol), a developingprotocol, is an element of DiffServe.

Turning now to FIG. 2 as shown in FIG. 2 the IPTV network 100 SHO 90delivers content and regional multicast queue data to the regional videohead end (VHO, regional IPTV server) 134 containing server 105 toeffectuate delivery of regional advertising data to end user devicesassociated with the regional servers (VHO, CO, etc.) The regional server105 at the VHO delivers content and targeted advertising data viaunicast or multicast depending on the size of the targeted sub group ofend user devices (STB 131) to which the targeted advertising data isdirected. As shown in FIG. 2 sub groups 112 receive multicast 111advertising from regional VHO 134 server 105. End user device sub-groups110 receive multicast 108 targeted advertising data from VHO regionalserver 105. Individual households receive unicast 106 advertising to settop box 131 when an end user sub group contains only one end userdevice. More then one set top box can be located in an individualhousehold 102 and each individual set top box can receive a separateunicast or multicast advertising stream 106. Having a separateadvertising displayed at each set top box (STB) 131 tailored to targetthe subscriber watching television at that particular STB. Each server104 and STB 131 contains a processor 130, a memory 132 and a database134. Each STB 131 has an associated remote control 115 and display 117.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative advertising insertion system whereinadvertising data can be inserted into a video multicast or unicast atthe IPTV regional VHO server or at the end user client device, forexample, an STB. Advertising data can be inserted into an IPTV videostream via advertising insertion device 103 at the IPTV server 105 orthe STB 131. The IPTV server includes an advertising server 107 and anadvertising database 109. The advertising data is selected from theadvertising database and delivered by the advertising server 107 to theIPTV server 105. The advertising server processor keeps track ofavailable bandwidth between the advertising server and a target group ofselected opt-in IPTV subscribers. This bandwidth data can be stored inthe memory 132, database 134 or a data structure in the computerreadable memory as described below in FIG. 8.

Turning now to FIG. 3, in an illustrative embodiment, a method isdisclosed for multicasting targeted advertising data to end userdevices, the method including correlating at a regional internetprotocol television (IPTV) server, multicast queue data with web datafrom web sites visited by each of a plurality of end user devicesassociated with the regional IPTV server at block 302. The methodfurther includes selecting a subgroup of end user devices from theplurality of end user devices to receive targeted advertising datacorrelating with a member of the multicast queue data as shown at block304. The method further includes multicasting targeted advertising dataassociated with the member of the multicast queue data to the subgroupof end user devices from the regional IPTV server as shown at block 306.

In another illustrative embodiment, the web data and multicast queuedata further comprise data selected from the group consisting of image,text, audio and video data as shown at block 308. In another particularembodiment, the correlating further comprises comparing the web data toeach member of the multicast queue data, the selecting further includingplacing end user devices in a subgroup associated with a member of themulticast queue based on the correlating as shown at block 310.

In another illustrative embodiment the correlating further comprisescomparing the web data and the multicast queue data to a user profilefor each of the end user devices, wherein the user profile comprisesdata selected from the group consisting of image, text, audio and videodata wherein each member of the multicast queue is in an advertisingcategory including but not limited to sports, fashion, news, etc. Themulticast queue member advertising categories are correlated with theuser profile advertising categories. The user profile includes userinterest in the advertising categories, so that users having an interestin an advertising category may be selected to receive advertising datain that advertising category. In another illustrative embodiment themethod further includes receiving the multicast queue data at theregional advertising server from a super regional IPTV server as shownat block 312. In another illustrative embodiment, the multicast queuedata comprises image, video, audio and text data indicating regionaladvertising data associated with the regional IPTV server. In anotherillustrative embodiment the method further includes receiving at theregional IPTV server end user selection data indicating a selection oftargeted advertising data multicast to the end user device as shown atblock 314. In another particular embodiment, the method further includesaccessing contact data associated with the end user selection data andsending a message associated with the targeted advertising data to anend user address in the contact data as shown in block 318.

In another illustrative embodiment the end user address furthercomprises data indicative of an end user address selected from the groupconsisting of an internet protocol address and a physical address, andwherein the message further comprises data selected from the groupconsisting of an email, phone call, text message and an advertisementmailed to the physical address as shown in block 320. In anotherillustrative embodiment the multicast queue data further comprisesregional and demographic data sent to the regional IPTV serverassociated with the plurality of end users as shown in block 322.

Turning now to FIG. 4, a flow chart for characterizing a user isdepicted. Users are characterized into advertising categories based onweb site visits viewing history, user profile data, location data,demographics such as income, location, language, etc. at block 410. Websites are characterized into advertising categories based on URI parsingto get keywords, and advertising data including video, image, audio andtext data content of web sites visited by the end user at block 420.Advertisements (advertising data) are characterized into advertisingcategories based on tag data for advertisements or video, image; audioand text content of advertisement in block 430. Advertisement data isselected based on correlating the characterization (advertisingcategory) of advertisement to the characterization of an end user(advertising category) at block 440. Select advertisements are multicastto end users with matching characterization (advertising category) atblock 450.

Turning now to FIG. 5, a flow chart for updating end user advertisementdata is depicted. End user advertisement data is updated based on website visits, characterization of phone calls to numbers of businesses,and web order information for products at block 510. Advertisement datais stored in database and end user advertisement data is reported to theIPTV server at block 520.

Turning now to FIG. 6, a flow chart for advertisement placement andcontact is depicted. Advertising data is placed on the screen at block610. When an advertisement data is selected by an end user from apresentation screen, an advertiser associated with the selectedadvertising data is provided with an end user's contact information sothat the advertisers can place a telephone call, send an email orphysically send an advertising object, such as paper mail brochure orannouncement to an end user's physical address at block 620. Advertisingdata and information are pushed to end users at block 630. Users' opt-incontact information is made available to an advertiser at block 640. Anadvertiser can then contact an end user via an end user via email, phonecall or physical mail out at block 650.

Turning now to FIG. 7, a flow chart for multicast advertising dataselection is depicted. Natural language parsing of URIs and web sitecontent is performed at block 710. Advertising keywords are selectedbased on URI and stored in advertising select data at block 720. Websites visited by end users are searched and interrogated for image,audio, and text data for correlation with advertising data selectiondata at block 730. Advertising selection data is stored with URI indatabase at block 740. The web sites, web data, end users profiles andadvertising data are parsed and characterized into advertisingcategories for correlation and matching advertising data in a particularadvertising category with end user's having an interest in theparticular advertising category, based on the end user interest in theadvertising category.

Turning now to FIG. 8, a data structure for use in an illustrativeembodiment is depicted as stored in memory in a computer readablemedium. The data structure 800 includes an end user profile identifierfield 810 for containing image, video, text and audio data indicative ofan end user profile and interests in advertising categories. The datastructure also includes an end user keywords identifier field 820 forcontaining data indicative of an end user keyword. The data structurealso includes an end user video, audio, text and image data identifierfield 830 for containing data indicative of end user video, audio, textand image data. The data structure also includes a URI identifier field840 for containing data indicative of a URI and web data for the website indicated by the URI, the web data including image, video, text andaudio data. The data structure also includes an advertising selectiondata identifier field 850 for containing data indicative of advertisingselection data. The data structure also includes an opt-in contact datafor email, text message, VoIP, physical mail address identifier field860 for containing data indicative of opt-in contact data for email,text message, VoIP, and physical mail address data. In anotherparticular embodiment, the data structure further includes multicastqueue data field containing image, video, text and audio data indicatinga regional multicast queue of advertising data in a plurality ofadvertising categories for multicasting to sub groups of end usersassociated with a regional IPTV server.

The advertising categories presented herein are for illustration onlyand should not be considered as a limitation as to what advertisingcategories can be selected. In another particular illustrativeembodiment, the advertising categories are representative of the degreeof correlation between the video, image, text and audio data in each ofthe end user profile, multicast queue data and web data, rather than aparticular advertising category.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system 900 within which a set of instructions, when executed,may cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. In some embodiments, the machine operates as astandalone device. In some embodiments, the machine may be connected(e.g., using a network) to other machines. In a networked deployment,the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client usermachine in server-client user network environment, or as a peer machinein a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine maycomprise a server computer, a client user computer, a personal computer(PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA), a cellular telephone, a mobile device, a palmtop computer, alaptop computer, a desktop computer, a communications device, a wirelesstelephone, a land-line telephone, a control system, a camera, a scanner,a facsimile machine, a printer, a pager, a personal trusted device, aweb appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machinecapable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise)that specify actions to be taken by that machine. It will be understoodthat a device of the present invention includes broadly any electronicdevice that provides voice, video or data communication. Further, whilea single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be takento include any collection of machines that individually or jointlyexecute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein.

The computer system 900 may include a processor 902 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both), amain memory 904 and a static memory 906, which communicate with eachother via a bus 908. The computer system 900 may further include a videodisplay unit 910 (e.g., liquid crystals display (LCD), a flat panel, asolid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system900 may include an input device 912 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 914 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 916, a signal generationdevice 918 (e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interface.

The disk drive unit 916 may include a machine-readable medium 922 onwhich is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 924)embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein, including those methods illustrated in herein above. Theinstructions 924 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 904, the static memory 906, and/or within theprocessor 902 during execution thereof by the computer system 900. Themain memory 904 and the processor 902 also may constitutemachine-readable media. Dedicated hardware implementations including,but not limited to, application specific integrated circuits,programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices can likewise beconstructed to implement the methods described herein. Applications thatmay include the apparatus and systems of various embodiments broadlyinclude a variety of electronic and computer systems. Some embodimentsimplement functions in two or more specific interconnected hardwaremodules or devices with related control and data signals communicatedbetween and through the modules, or as portions of anapplication-specific integrated circuit. Thus, the example system isapplicable to software, firmware, and hardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, themethods described herein are intended for operation as software programsrunning on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementationscan include, but not limited to, distributed processing orcomponent/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtualmachine processing can also be constructed to implement the methodsdescribed herein.

The present invention contemplates a machine readable medium containinginstructions 924, or that which receives and executes instructions 924from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a networkenvironment 926 can send or receive voice, video or data, and tocommunicate over the network 926 using the instructions 924. Theinstructions 924 may further be transmitted or received over a network926 via the network interface device 920.

While the machine-readable medium 922 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present invention. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited tosolid-state memories such as a memory card or other package that housesone or more read-only (non-volatile) memories, random access memories,or other re-writable (volatile) memories; magneto-optical or opticalmedium such as a disk or tape; and carrier wave signals such as a signalembodying computer instructions in a transmission medium; and/or adigital file attachment to e-mail or other self-contained informationarchive or set of archives is considered a distribution mediumequivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, the invention isconsidered to include any one or more of a machine-readable medium or adistribution medium, as listed herein and including art-recognizedequivalents and successor media, in which the software implementationsherein are stored.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Otherembodiments may be utilized and derived there from, such that structuraland logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Figures are also merely representationaland may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may beexaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings: are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quicklyascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted withthe understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit thescope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing DetailedDescription, it can be seen that various features are grouped togetherin a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure.This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed embodiments require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separately claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer readable medium,containing a computer program for multicasting targeted advertising datato end user devices, the computer program comprising: instructions totrack at a internet protocol server, universal resource indicatorscomprising domain name world wide web addresses for web sites visited bythe end user devices; instructions to parse at the server, each of theuniversal resource indicators domain name world wide web addressesvisited by the end user devices into one of a noun, an adjective and averb; and instructions to multicast from the server, targetedadvertising data selected to a subgroup of the end user devices from aregional internet protocol television server based on the parsing;wherein the universal resource indicators domain name world wide webaddresses each comprise at least one of a noun, verb and adjective, thecomputer program further comprising: instructions to interrogate a website associated with at least one of the universal resource indicatorsdomain name world wide web addresses to retrieve and store web data fromthe web site selected from image, video, audio and text; andinstructions to correlate the web data with a key word based on theparsed universal resource indicator.
 2. The medium of claim 1, whereinthe targeted advertising data in an advertising category is selectedfrom text, video and audio data, the computer program furthercomprising: instructions to place the end user devices in an advertisingcategory based on a result from the instructions to correlate.
 3. Themedium of claim 1, the computer program further comprising: instructionsto compare the web data and the advertising data to user profile datafor each of the end user devices, wherein the user profile datacomprises data indicating the advertising category, wherein theadvertising data is selected from the group consisting of the image,text, audio and video data.
 4. The medium of claim 1, the computerprogram further comprising: instructions to receive the targetedadvertising data at the regional advertising server from a superregional internet protocol television server, wherein the targetedadvertising data further comprises image, video, audio and text dataindicating regional advertising data associated with the web data forthe regional internet protocol television server.
 5. The medium of claim1, the computer program further comprising: instructions to receive atthe regional internet protocol television server, end user selectiondata indicating a selection of the targeted advertising data multicastto the end user devices; accessing contact data associated with the enduser selection data; and sending a message associated with the targetedadvertising data to an end user address in the contact data.
 6. Themedium of claim 5, wherein the end user address is selected from aninternet protocol address and a physical address, and wherein themessage further comprises data selected from an email, a phone call, atext message and an advertisement mailed to the physical address.
 7. Themedium of claim 1, wherein the advertising category further comprisesregional and demographic data sent to the regional internet protocoltelevision server associated with the plurality of end users.
 8. Asystem for multicasting targeted advertising data to end user devices,comprising: a regional internet protocol television server containing aprocessor in data communication with a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium; and a computer program comprising instructions embeddedin the non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer programcomprising: instructions to track at a internet protocol server,universal resource indicators comprising domain name world wide webaddresses for web sites visited by the end user devices; instructions toparse at the server, each of the universal resource indicators domainname world wide web addresses visited by the end user devices into oneof a noun, an adjective and a verb; and instructions to multicast fromthe server, targeted advertising data selected to the subgroup of theend user devices from a regional internet protocol television serverbased on the parsing, the computer program further comprising:instructions to receive the advertising data at the regional internetprotocol television server from a super regional internet protocoltelevision server, wherein the advertising data further comprisesadvertising tag data comprising image, video, audio and text tag dataindicating regional advertising data associated with the regionalinternet protocol television server.
 9. The system of claim 8, whereinin the computer program, data from web sites visited by each of aplurality of end user devices associated with the regional internetprotocol television server comprise data selected from image, text,audio and video data, the computer program further comprisinginstructions to compare the data from web sites to the targetedadvertising data, wherein the instructions to select further compriseinstructions to place the end user devices in the subgroup.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the targeted advertising data is in anadvertising category selected from image, text, video and audio data.11. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions to select furthercomprise instructions to compare the web data and advertising data to auser profile for each of the end user devices, wherein the user profilecomprises data selected from image, text, audio and video data.
 12. Thesystem of claim 8, the computer program further comprising instructionsto receive at the regional internet protocol television server, end userselection data indicating a selection of the targeted advertising datamulticast to a plurality of end user devices, instructions to accesscontact data associated with the end user selection data andinstructions to send a message associated with the targeted advertisingdata to an end user address in the contact data.
 13. The system of claim12, wherein the end user address further comprises data indicative of anend user address selected from an internet protocol address and aphysical address, and wherein the message further comprises dataselected from an email, a phone call, a text message and anadvertisement mailed to a physical address.
 14. The system of claim 9,wherein the advertising data further comprises multicast queue dataselected from regional location data and demographic data associatedwith the plurality of end user devices.
 15. A tangible non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium containing computer programinstructions that when executable by a processor perform functions at aregional internet protocol television server, the computer programexecutable by the processor to multicast targeted advertising data to aplurality of end user devices from the regional internet protocoltelevision server, the computer program comprising instructions toinstructions to track at a internet protocol server, universal resourceindicators comprising domain name world wide web addresses for web sitesvisited by the end user devices; instructions to parse at the server,each of the universal resource indicators domain name world wide webaddresses visited by the end user devices into one of a noun, anadjective and a verb; and instructions to multicast from the server,targeted advertising data selected to the subgroup of the end userdevices from a regional internet protocol television server based on theparsing; wherein the universal resource indicators domain name worldwide web addresses each comprise at least one of a noun, verb andadjective, the computer program instructions further comprising:instructions to interrogate a web site associated with at least one ofthe universal resource indicators domain name world wide web addressesto retrieve and store web data from the web site selected from image,video, audio and text; and instructions to correlate the web data with akey word based on the parsed universal resource indicator.
 16. Themedium of claim 15, wherein in the computer program, the selectedtargeted advertising data is advertising data selected from image, text,audio and video data, wherein the instructions to select furthercomprise instructions to compare the advertising data to the profile forthe end user to place each of the plurality of end user devices in asubgroup associated with a member of multicast queue based on theadvertising data selected.